as the season winds down. Why? Exhaustion. They are very young and likely not used to the rigors of Big Ten basketball and they are a miniscule 7 man rotation. It is total survival mode for them right now.

Moreover, the team might be a bit demoralized. They no doubt have a very good idea of what are their weaknesses. They’ve had ample time to address them, and appear to be unable to do so. Thus they are no longer “building” the season. They are flatlining.

So, this is our team, the talent and skill, or lack thereof, has been laid bare for all there to see. Nothing is hidden any longer. And let’s be honest, there is no possibility of a sudden burst of production from the bench (ala David Palmer last year).

I expect a transfer might happen yet. I expect Cougill may actually go backward in terms of development unless he completely overhauls his body. Cully Payne is a player who has disappointed me the most because the one thing he could and should have improved upon with experience is turnovers, and yet he has gotten worse. Much worse. Matt Gaten has flatlined in his career or has merely proven he is a very solid role player who is incapable or uncomfortable being a star player. The few positives are that May is a future All-Big Ten player if he can continue to grow as a player, and he seems very likely to do just that. Fuller is a solid player, and while his little midseason points outburst had some thinking he was a star in the making, I think he is merely a solid Big Ten player.

That’s three guys who can do the big time by my count…May, Fuller and Gatens. That’s not nearly enough. The inside is a problem, ball control is a problem, we do not have an offense or the partds for the final two minutes of a game. We cannot break people down or get to the free throw line when the game is on the line. And a good number of these 10 point losses were apparently five point games at the two minute mark that just spiraled out of control. (A few games back the BTN flashed a stat that showed Iowa 3-1 in games decided by 5 or fewer points…I now get that stat. We were probably up by 10+ with two minutes left and won by five.) Bottom line, we cannot win a tied game down the stretch.

I don’t know what to do either. I fear we are about to become the St. Johns of the midwest. St. Johns, a storied basketball program with a wealth of talent at their disposal, hired a promising young coach who had to shine off the dirt of a few down years, and by year three they showed a glimmer of hope for about 10 games in the middle of that season, but it never got any better and now they are just flat out mediocre five years after that hire. He will probably be fired at season’s end, and the alums are looking back and thinking this is two seasons later than it should have been.

Will we be thinking that in two years?

Well said. We’re simply going to have to be patient, and see what happens with the incoming recruits.

The doctor I work for – a dermatologist – will be doing skin checks for the NCAA Wrestling Championships. He’s going to try to put me down as an “assistant.” No, I’m not excited about seeing the skin of a bunch of sweaty guys, but I would get to hang at the meet.

I think you have to schedule for wins, even if it’s against the likes of Wyoming Tech and St. Mary’s Catholic Girls School (don’t laugh, they have some mean outside shooters). Conference play brings an opportunity to see actual really good teams (Mich St, Ohio St, Purdue) play at CHA and, as best I can tell, they aren’t bringing out fans in droves. Better attendance numbers, sure, but it’s not like CHA is selling out or anything. Scheduling their likes in the non-conf season would be a band-aid on the problem. Scheduling Wyoming Tech may not bring many people to the arena, but this team just needs to win, period. It needs to win to give fans some reason to hope a little, to give the team some confidence that it’s actually on the right track, and to give recruits some indication that maybe they aren’t signing away four years to get a free education but play for a woeful basketball team that won’t sniff any postseason play outside of the Big Ten Tournament.

Plus, this team needs to learn how to win consistently — against anyone. Their tank is going to be plum full of moral victories after this season, but they don’t really know how to win. Whenever they do (which, obviously, has been a rare sight this season), it feels like they somehow stumbled into it — and I think the team feels almost as bewildered by it as we do watching it.

The best 3 players he ever had were already there when he started. He was able to blend in his players for the next 3 years because of Roy, BJ and Eddie (I think we would all think differently of Lickliter if he came in and had 3 sophomores the level of those 3 and stick around all three years). That gave him a chance to mold his program. After they left, Davis had a horrible year. He then would go on and usually be around 20 wins and have one down year about every 4. He never got back to the sweet sixteen until his last year when it was senior dominated (so much so, we had the senior citizen Jess Settles on it).
I truly believe Lickliter is a better coach than Davis, its just that Lick came in a much, much worse situation. I think people have put Davis on a pedestal that he truly does not deserve. He was a fine coach, but we built most of our wins in the preseason against crap teams. He never won the Big Ten or a Big Ten tournament. He kept us middle of the road. While that might look good now, I want more from Iowa basketball. Lickliter gave Florida’s second championship team its hardest game in the tournament. I believe it was his 5th year at Butler (maybe 6th). He is a system coach just like Davis.

Lick has had the worse luck when all the players who have left (all originally Alford recruits), didn’t leave at once. If they did, we would have senior players who have been in the system. We would of been able to withstand losing Tucker (and not have to play Lil John). We could possibly have veteran big men who have sneaky moves underneath. Also, veteran teams usually have less turnovers. You give us that right now with our good young players, and we have a much different season.

Lets support our Hawks this year and next, and then see where the cards lie.

GO HAWKS!!

Has bears? Oh my.

Bring Chris Doyle and Tom Brands over to CHA and have them work with the BB team in the offseason. I guarangoddamntee we see significant improvement

Is his disdain of Cully Payne.

The kid is a freshman, logging crazy minutes in the Big 10 – and is managing to pretty much hold his own. Sure, his turnovers make me pull my hair out, but again, he is only a year away from high school ball and is literally Iowa’s ONLY legitimate ball-handling option.

I think it’s way to premature to decide he will never be an adequate Big 10 point guard. I really think he doesn’t seem any worse than Dean Oliver was as a frosh, and Dean-O ended up with a very nice career at Iowa.

I’d also add Tucker into the “no big deal if he transfers” column. Sure, he’s teased us (particularly during his freshman year) with some scoring acumen, but nothing else of note. It might be better to not even have him around to wonder “what if” about.

1) The Lickliter plan deserves another year. He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named didn’t just leave the cupboards bare, he ripped down the cupboards, took all the lightbulbs and pulled the wiring out of the walls. This is Lick’s baby now, and he gets another year to turn the Titanic around.

2) These guys are running on fumes, but they haven’t quit. Remember the first few years of the Ferentz era? They guys weren’t very good, but they didn’t quit. I do think the Kelly transfer set things back more than we realize.

3) An earlier post mentioned conditioning and attitude coaching courtesy of Messers Brands and Doyle. I’m all for it. Keep in mind that our boys will never be able to wear white unis again, what with the fear-based poop and pee stains.

4) I’d love to watch a Brands practice. God, I’d eat nails for that guy.

5) We have to be ready to have this conversation again year. Honestly, an NIT berth next year might be our Final Four.

If we do have to hire again after next (or this) season, what do we want in a coach? A lot of coaches want to be treated like the top dog. That’s not gonna happen here. This is Capt. Kirk’s kingdom. And what coach will feel comfortable looking at all those wrestling banners in Carver’s rafters?

What kind of coach can set his ego aside enough to stay and be successful here?

No worries, vahawk. I understood your intent and don’t take issue. The point I should have been clearer on regarding Tom Davis is that I saw him get the most out of players, and he was able to adjust to the talent he had. He didn’t need others stepping up for him with the “he needs his type of players” mantra. In college, a coach obviously is responsible for the recruiting, but circumstances, such as taking over a program, test those coaches to see if they can create a style of play that maximizes the abilities of the players. I see Lickliter forced into a situation where he doesn’t have the specific ‘tools’ he’d like, and I’m looking to see more from him in doing the best with what he has rather than only knowing one approach.